Category: Soap Box

Ill. Student Charged Over Violent Essay
Friday, April 27, 2007
04-27 10:46 PDT Cary, Ill. AP —

A high school senior was arrested after writing that “it would be funny” to dream about opening fire in a building and having sex with the dead victims, authorities said.

Another passage in the essay advised his teacher at Cary-Grove High School: “dont be surprised on inspiring the first CG shooting,” according to a criminal complaint filed this week.

Allen Lee, 18, faces two disorderly conduct charges over the creative-writing assignment, which he was given on Monday in English class at the northern Illinois school.

Students were told to “write whatever comes to your mind. Do not judge or censor what you are writing,” according to a copy of the assignment.

[Read the rest of the story via the link above.]

Read the last quoted paragraph again: ‘Students were told to “write whatever comes to your mind. Do not judge or censor what you are writing,” according to a copy of the assignment.’ And when he did, they had him arrested. Talk about pressure to ‘do well‘ in school!

The Thought Police require that you write whatever you are thinking, so that they may better judge you. Just wait until the second iteration of this madness comes around: When students are charged because the teacher doesn’t believe they wrote their true thoughts and thinks the student wanted to write something violent…

I have never heard better arguments for home schooling than the recent knee-jerking happening at schools around the country.

Next up, the Dream Police… they live inside of your head…

-Chris Knight

Alternative News Sources » Presidential Candidate: U.S. In Danger of Dictatorship
Presidential Candidate: U.S. In Danger of Dictatorship
Posted on April 12th, 2007 13 hours ago by blogger

Congressman Ron Paul warns elite believe they own us and are “always prepared” to take our liberties

Presidential candidate Ron Paul has warned that the US is now at a crisis point because the people have been so neglectful of protecting their liberties and big government has been so effective in eroding them. He warned that the elite are prepared to concoct events to scare the American people and asserted that the 2008 Presidential election is a contest between the people who care about their freedoms and those who are willing to succumb to the temptations of dictatorship.

[snip… follow the link to the full article above…]

I don’t think I had even heard this guy’s name before two months ago, and after reading the above article I want to learn more. Gee, I can’t imagine why we don’t hear more about him in the main-stream press. On the one hand I can understand why they don’t want to publicize his agenda and convictions, but they don’t seem to be digging up any dirt either. He looks more promising by the minute.

-Chris Knight

While I believe whole heartedly in the fifth amendment’s protections for individuals against self incrimination in regards to their personal lives, I believe that it should not ever be needed when a government employee is called upon to describe their on-the-job duties. I expect members/employees of the government to adhere to the law while performing their duties, and there should not be anything criminal about their job; especially when the person in question works in the attorney general’s office. When a government employee pleads the fifth while being questioned by the Senate about the work they did as a government employee they are pretty much saying “You don’t get to hear how I spent my time while employed by the people of this country, and since I plead the fifth you can’t hold that lack of knowledge against me”. I think that any government employee who pleads the fifth in regards to their employment should be immediately fired and required to pay back every penny they earned during their employ. Everything they earned, including health and retirement benefits, should be returned so that the American people are not paying for this person’s unaccounted for activities. Right after the check clears charge them with treason, as they were obviously not working in the best interest of the People while employed by the People.

Why do we tolerate such abuses by our government workers and our politicians? They work for the people, and yet the American people seem incredibly willing to take the royal screwing we have been getting for as long as we can remember. Where was the turning point between George Washington who was afraid the people would treat him like a king and George W. Bush who demands to be treated like a king?

-Chris Knight

Gonzales Aide to Invoke Fifth Amendment
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
Monday, March 26, 2007
(03-26) 16:35 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) —

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ liaison with the White House will refuse to answer questions at upcoming Senate hearings about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, citing her Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, her lawyer says.

“I have decided to follow by lawyer’s advice and respectfully invoke my constitutional right,” Monica Goodling, Gonzales’ counsel and White House liaison, said in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The revelation complicated the outlook for Gonzales, who is traveling out of town this week even as he fights to keep his job and his agency’s investigatory power.

[Follow the link above to read the whole sordid story…]